Orange County Grand Jury • 2007-2008 • Agency Response
Response to: NO COUNTY FOR OLD BOOMERS When Orange County Baby Boomers Retire, here Will They Live?

City of Buena Park Office of the Mayor July 10, 2008 The Honorable Nancy Wieben Stock Presiding Judge of the Superior*

Published: July 10, 2008 3 pages
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Findings and Recommendations 4 findings

F1
The Housing Elements for the cities and County of Orange do not reflect that the number of affordable senior housing units in Orange County will not accommodate the projected population. Response: The City disagrees with this finding. The City's adopted Housing Element has been certified by the State as appropriately addressing the State- designated fair share of housing for special needs groups, including the senior population within Buena Park. It should be noted that the City has adopted provisions to facilitate the development of senior housing including increased residential density bonus, reduction in minimum floor area per unit, and reduction in parking requirements.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
Include the current and projected affordable senior housing inventory by type, location, and cost in the 2008 and future years' development of the Housing Element. This recommendation will not be implemented, since it is not Response: warranted or a requirement of State law. As stated previously, the mandatory Housing Element requirements are established by State law. To ensure continued compliance and certification by the State Housing and Community Development Department, the City is required to fully comply with the requirements set forth in State Government Code. State law requires analysis of the special housing needs of the elderly, as part of the special needs evaluation of residents in our City.
F2
The Housing Element for the County of Orange and the cities do not focus sufficiently on or analyze the population growth and housing needs of the aging baby boomer generation. Response: The City disagrees with this finding. Based on State law, the City's adopted Housing Element was required to adequately discuss and analyze population growth and housing needs of special needs groups, including the 6650 BEACH BOULEVARD, P.O. BOX 5009, BUENA PARK, CA 90622 (714) 562-3754 • FAX (714) 562-3506 Presiding Judge of the Superior Court senior population a's well as the aging baby boomer generation, in order to receive certification by the State of California Department of Housing and Community Development. The Housing Element was found to be consistent with applicable State requirements.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
Include sufficient data-in the Housing Element to acknowledge the imminent growth in the county's aging population. This data is to include the current population and the growth trend of the aging baby boomer generation as well as the current median income and the income trend of the senior population. Response: This recommendation will not be implemented. It is not specifically required by State law. State law requires examination of the housing needs of all economic segments of the Community. However, the City is aware that the population is aging. In accordance with the requirements of State law, the Housing Element update will include specific policies and programs to address this issue. 6650 BEACH BOULEVARD, P.O. BOX 5009, BUENA PARK, CA 90622 (714) 562-3754 • FAX (714) 562-3506 Presiding Judge of the Superior Court
F3
Not all Housing Elements are available online for easy access by the public. Response: The City disagrees with this finding. The presumption is that County households have computer access to the internet where this information can be In addition, all cities do not have the resources to make this reviewed. information available online. Instead, Housing Elements are available at City libraries and City Halls.
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
Put all Housing Elements on line on each City's website. Response: The City intends to implement this recommendation after Housing Element Certification by the State.
F4
Municipalities are not proactive enough in encouraging the development of affordable senior housing. Response: The City disagrees with this finding. The City has created Zoning Code provisions to facilitate senior housing, including density bonus, reduced floor area requirement, and reduced parking requirement. Further, the City has provided financial incentives to create partnerships to encourage the development of affordable Senior Housing, including a recent 150 unit senior project which the City promoted on a former commercial site.
Related Recommendations (1)
R4
Confer with developers to establish the needs for affordable senior housing and encourage investment in future projects. Response: City practice is currently consistent with this recommendation. City staff routinely confers with developers regarding potential affordable housing projects and development opportunities. The City will continue to encourage the development of affordable housing, including senior housing projects, pursuant to the policies and programs of the City's adopted and certified Housing Element. If you have any further questions regarding the City of Buena Park's commitment to affordable housing, please contact this office. Sincerely, Mayor Jim Dow City Council CC: Rick Warsinski, City Manager Joel W. Rosen, Community Development Director

* This report's PDF did not contain easily extractable text and required Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for analysis. There may be minor errors in the extracted findings and recommendations due to OCR limitations with scanned documents.